STAAR Surgical (STAA) Competitors

STAAR Surgical (NASDAQ:STAA) and National Vision (NASDAQ:EYE) are both small-cap medical companies, but which is the better investment? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their dividends, institutional ownership, community ranking, valuation, risk, analyst recommendations, media sentiment, earnings and profitability.

Does the media favor STAA or EYE?

In the previous week, STAAR Surgical had 2 more articles in the media than National Vision. MarketBeat recorded 7 mentions for STAAR Surgical and 5 mentions for National Vision. National Vision's average media sentiment score of 1.36 beat STAAR Surgical's score of 0.88 indicating that National Vision is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
STAAR Surgical	5 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	1 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
National Vision	4 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	1 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Do insiders and institutionals hold more shares of STAA or EYE?

96.7% of STAAR Surgical shares are owned by institutional investors. 1.0% of STAAR Surgical shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 2.3% of National Vision shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Is STAA or EYE more profitable?

STAAR Surgical has a net margin of 4.69% compared to National Vision's net margin of -3.44%. STAAR Surgical's return on equity of 6.83% beat National Vision's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
STAAR Surgical	4.69%	6.83%	5.45%
National Vision	-3.44%	3.47%	1.33%

Which has more volatility & risk, STAA or EYE?

STAAR Surgical has a beta of 0.65, meaning that its share price is 35% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, National Vision has a beta of 1.48, meaning that its share price is 48% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Do analysts prefer STAA or EYE?

STAAR Surgical currently has a consensus target price of $47.13, suggesting a potential upside of 21.90%. National Vision has a consensus target price of $19.60, suggesting a potential upside of 35.92%. Given National Vision's higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe National Vision is more favorable than STAAR Surgical.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
STAAR Surgical	0 Sell rating(s)	6 Hold rating(s)	4 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.40
National Vision	0 Sell rating(s)	5 Hold rating(s)	0 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.00

Does the MarketBeat Community believe in STAA or EYE?

STAAR Surgical received 32 more outperform votes than National Vision when rated by MarketBeat users. However, 65.89% of users gave National Vision an outperform vote while only 56.10% of users gave STAAR Surgical an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
STAAR Surgical	Outperform Votes 285 56.10%	Underperform Votes 223 43.90%
National Vision	Outperform Votes 253 65.89%	Underperform Votes 131 34.11%

Which has preferable earnings and valuation, STAA or EYE?

STAAR Surgical has higher earnings, but lower revenue than National Vision. National Vision is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than STAAR Surgical, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Company	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
STAAR Surgical	$322.42M	5.89	$21.35M	$0.31	124.71
National Vision	$2.13B	0.53	-$65.90M	-$0.92	-15.67

Summary

STAAR Surgical beats National Vision on 12 of the 18 factors compared between the two stocks.